Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1887-12-26
CHRISTMAS DAY.
Abstracts from the Sermons OF Augusta
Clergymen.

| AT ST. MARKS EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
Sermon by Rev. W. Gwynne. Text, ST
John IL, 3, IS. After pointing out that St
John declares the Child of Bethlehem to bs
the maker of Heaven and earth, and that Ht
"was in the beginning with God, and He wa,
God" the preacher went on to say: .'Ther,
are two dangers to which a merely spiritua
conception of God is exposed, namely; Mis-
tiness and GOODNESS. How vague and vision
AIRY would have been all ideas of the Divine
nature without the knowledge or acceptance
of the truth of incarnation. 1t was so of old
outside of Israel, everywhere. 1t was so in
Israel to large extent. Ii is so today even
in Christian lands. Wherever men have tried
| to hold to the thought of God without the ac-
knowledgement of Christ as God incarnate,
religion ends sooner or later, either in gross
superstition or in the widest dreams and fan
| cies of what is called speculative thought.
Even the idea of God is lost in mist or haze
and men ask in bewilderment, is there in
deed God?' And the central fact of Chris
tianity the great foundation fact of Christmas
Day, is the only power that has ever been
able to prove a corrective of all this The
word was made of flesh That is the one
truth, which once grasped, alone gives sub
stance and body to religion. As a matter of
fact and history the entrance Of the Goldman
upon the plane of the visible earth of ours,
the treading Of its streets and fields by His
human feet, is the one influence which alone
has been able to give permanence and reality
to the idea of God.
The second danger to which all merely
spiritual conceptions of God are exposed, is
coldness. In such, religious Lore can have
but little place. As matter of fact love
never has had any solid foothold in any
heather or philosophical system whatev yer.
The Christ child came to bring heat as well
as light, to make the heart beat quicker as
well as to make the eye of the mind clearer.
Humanity speaking it is for this reason that
every religious scheme which has denied this
person of jesus Christ. has died a natural
death, has perished from sheer exhaustion,
anamia, as would be said in medicine. There
was no blood in its veins, no heat, no power
of continued life. Separately, one after an
other, they have risen, and separately, one
after another, they have passed away. 1t is
no accident that not one such effort has ever
been able to embody itself in society that
lasted longer than few score years. 1t is
no accident that the historic Catholic church
founded as it is, upon the rock of incarna-
ton, is the only society whose life has
spanned all the centuries and against which
according to the Lords promise, the gates OF
] hell have not prevailed. Surely this is an
argument that ought to have weight with
practical men. 1t is the argument of visible
results, the argument of success. The word
was made flesh. That is the only faith thai
has ever succeeded in finding continuous
home in the hearts of men.
And what heart, what courage, what grand.
eur this fact Of Christmas day gives to life
God is no longer the cold, vast, unmentoned
/
of. The perfect manhood of the eternh
Son of God begun visiby on the first Christ
mas morning and continuing now and alwayi
in heaven, is not only the sign of Gods love
to man; it is the perpetual bond of union and
communion of God with man.
Ar THE FIRST BAPTIST.
The text was taken from the first chapter
of John, fourteenth verse: "And the wore
was made flesh and dwelt among u.s." TIL,
text announces the greatest event in history
the central fact of redemption, and the great
est and all comprehensive miracle, Chris
tianity. If the birth of Jesus was the incar
nation of Deity, that fact makes possible
and probable every miracle he wrought, anC
makes necessary the resurrection the crown
ing miracle of all. First, the incarnation in
wolves the cessation and perfect humanity o
Jesus Christ (The word was made flesh
He was made in all points like unto us. Tn
incarnation is the mysterious union of tn
divine and human nature in one person, Jes
US Snllst, VINO was Dorm IN BetnieHem
Second, the incarnation teaches the pre-ex
istence and deity of Christ, (The word wa
made fiesh.) In the beginning the wor
was with God and the word was God, an
the word was made flesh. Before the wor
became the light of men He was with God
before the word was made flesh the word wa
Col hnro nxI xr,,
inhabited eternity. In Hebrews Paul speak
of Christ as one by whom God made tn
words. the brightness of His Fathers glory
and the express image of His person, whor
angels we're commanded to worship. Chris
says: Before Abraham was, I am
Third, the incarnation explains the life an
work of Jesus Christ. The fifth gosps
proves the divinity Of Christ, because it re
quires the divinity of Christ to account fo
His work in the world in behalf of men. Tn
character given to Christ by infidels an
those who deny his divinity, cannot be a,
counted for on the ground Of His being onl
human Back Of His earthly life His wor
for men in the world is the eternal life
{ God. Fourth, the incarnation reveals ii
. wonderful condescension Of God in redem
! ton. The birth of Jesus in Bethlehem wi
God not only coming into the world but cor
ing into human nature for its regeneratio
.sFor truly He took not on Him the natu
( of angels, but He took on Him the seed
!, Abraham" and ''took upon Him the form
: servant and was made in the likeness
a men, and being formed and fashioned as
; man He humbled Himself and became obet
C ent unto death, even the death of the cross
This is said of Him, who said, sBefo